Send "Burial " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Burial puts out music seldom enough that when he does, it's an event. It's a scarcity thing: Instead of flooding the market with music, he keeps fans wanting, and he and the labels he works with know how to capitalize on that desire. A limited, vinyl-only collaboration with Thom Yorke and Four Tet, on the latter's Text Records, was released with only a week's advance notice and sold out in no time. With the exception of the limited, vinyl-only pressing, Hyperdub followed a similar strategy for this release, Burial's first new solo material since 2007, and label boss Kode9 helped build the anticipation by premiering tracks on Benji B's BBC radio show.Not many electronic producers can command that type of hype. Fortunately, Burial hasn't disappointed us. Anyone who feared that he might have moved on to a new sound-- perhaps, like James Blake, embracing pop songwriting-- can breathe a sigh of relief: This is the same melancholic Burial we've known and loved from the beginning. But listeners who wondered if the formula might be wearing thin, diluting itself amidst all the rainy pitter-patter and tear-stained chords, can also breathe easy. While sticking to the emotional terrain he's known for, Burial also subtly pushes his sound in new directions. "Street Halo" is the closest Burial has come yet to the straighter cadence of house and techno, with shuffling hi-hats and a crunchy handclap/fingersnap sound accentuating the 4/4 pulse; the middling tempo backs off dubstep's quick snap and eases into a relaxed, rolling house groove. The backbeat bassline even recalls, however unconsciously, Ricardo Villalobos' "Dexter", which isn't necessarily as absurd as it sounds: Both artists have a thing for accidental syncopations and splintering percussion. As always, Burial's beats are oblique, with a hazy percussive clatter lurking behind crisp, timekeeping accents. And again, he has made mournful, a cappella vocals the melodic focus of the track, and everything is suffused in a suggestive layer of static and grit. But he's a masterful arranger, frequently switching up elements-- focusing one minute on a blunt, rave-inspired bassline, and the next on supersaturated vocal harmonies that sound like overdriven Cocteau Twins. The track follows a counterintuitive logic, abandoning the predictable structure of breakdowns and buildups in favor of twists and turns you don't see coming, including a fake fade-out at the end....full text |
| Crackintheroad |
| So after dropping a collaboration with Thom Yorke and Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) earlier this month, Burial is back with another vinyl release, in the form of three track EP Street Halo. It’s clear from the off that his style hasn’t changed much, however the tracks seem to be vastly more radio and nightclub friendly than his previous ambient based works. Street Halo is seven minutes of dubstep by numbers, an enticing beat, a pounding atmospheric base and spliced female vocals. It’s a track destined to fill dancefloors of the slickest clubs around the world, possibly not a trait previously attributed to Burial’s music. On the other hand, NYC is one of the most abstract works Burial has produced to date, distorted beats forever changing in nature and tempo form the backbone of the track. Swirling synths paint a melancholic, gloomy picture, while the accustomed female vocals are distant and distorted, almost anguished....full text |
| Residentadvisor |
| Artist releases first solo 12-inch in four years and we collectively realise that not much has changed. In almost all cases this would be to the chagrin of those invested in the producer, although with Burial you could be forgiven for thinking that a lack of progression is actually preferable. The volume of late '00s bass music indebted to the enigmatic London producer is vast—unparalleled in fact. Across the release of two albums and three 12-inches William Bevan has crafted among the most indelible identities known to electronic music. The upshot of this is that despite Street Halo proffering merely minor tweaks to the blueprint, with so many derivatives on the market it feels enough to simply hear Burial being Burial. On a micro level, the four-to-the-floor bounce of the title track is the furthest removed from the music that has preceded it. "Street Halo" is (naturally) baked with static and melancholy, although the rolling synthesis around the bassline and momentary pause for impact prior to the kick's introduction suggests dancefloor considerations. "NYC" on the other hand, could have stood tall among the most pensive numbers on Burial and Untrue, its mass of swirling strings and patient garage beat evoking longing in London. "Stolen Dog" splits the difference by introducing a lick of synth melody and sharpening up the drums. Perhaps Burial's most heavily reproduced production attribute—pitch-bent vocals—feature often, chiming in around the upper octaves and conversing in their own indecipherable tongue....full text |
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